Page 69 of The Prizes We Win
“Sebastian,” Dante snaps. “You either pull it together or you get right back in that elevator.”
Sebastian quickly shakes his head and clears his throat. “No-no. I’m good. Let’s go.”
The five of us walk down the hallway, past mine and Enzo’s now trashed offices, and past Clara’s desk that sits right in front of Luca’s door at the end of the hallway.
Luca’s office.
All of us look to Enzo, waiting for him to take charge of the situation. This is officially his show. But as he reaches for the door handle, Luca leans forward and whispers in his ear, “Turn up the crazy a little, yeah?”
The corner of Enzo’s mouth pulls up slightly. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Luca looks over between me and Sebastian. “You two put your guns away.” Seb and I pinch our brows in confusion, but when Luca holsters his own, the two of us follow. “D?”
Dante keeps his gun raised over Enzo’s shoulder from behind him. “Got it.”
“Alright.” Luca claps Enzo on the shoulder. “On you, Amico.”
“Stay close to me, Love.” Sebastian’s worried eyes search mine for a moment before I nod.
Finally, Enz takes a deep breath and throws Luca’s office door open. “Hey, Maximillion. Long time no see.”
45
Enzo
“Well, well, well… took you all long enough to get here.” He looks past me and at Sebastian. “Thanks for locking us on the nice floor by the way.” Then his stare moves to Joe. “Coffee was delicious.” Then to Luca. “Nice office.”
It takes everything in me not to outwardly react to Clara, but I do my best to maintain my composure. “Nice to see you’ve made yourself at home.”
“I see you’ve been resting?” His crazed eyes look me up and down.
Shrugging nonchalantly, I answer, “Yeah, nothing a little TLC couldn’t fix.”
Maxim looks past me at Dante, and I take a quick second to mouth “Are you okay?” to Clara. She’s currently tied to Luca’s desk chair with a large piece of duct tape across her mouth, andMax is standing behind her, pressing a gun to her temple. Her eyes widen and she blinks once, careful not to move her head.
“I’m assuming I have your big ass to thank for all the dead bodies back at the shop?”
Dante doesn’t answer. And I don’t have to turn my head to know that he doesn’t so much as blink. He just keeps his gun aimed at Max’s forehead. So I answer for him. “Nah. All of them actually.”
“Really? Even the girl?”
“Yeah,” Joe says before me. “Even the girl.”
“I’d be more afraid of her than any of us, to be honest.” I wink over at Joe. “I’m assuming we have you to thank for all of the dead bodies in that hallway?”
Slowly, I walk toward Luca’s bookshelf. Once I reach it, I casually run my finger along the spines, not even bothering to look at Max, knowing full well that Dante still hasn’t moved, and that ignoring him will only infuriate him more.
He’s clearly a man who requires a great deal of ego-stroking.
“You took to long to get here. I got bored.”
“Bullshit,” I say, still not looking at him as I continue to walk around the perimeter of the room.
“Looks like Maxy got a little sick and tired of living under Daddy’s thumb,” Luca interjects.
“I cannot imagine. I mean, having to deal with him as a fatherandbeing second pick over your brother,” I say dramatically as I walk behind Luca, Sebastian, and Joe.
“Is that why you’re throwing a temper tantrum, Max? Mad you weren’t Daddy’s favorite?” Joe asks.
